Just three times each year, something magical happens at the Institute of Contemporary Art, that futuristically boxy building on Sansom Street: the old exhibits disappear, and abra kadabra! New ones miraculously appear in their places. The cardinal rule of ICA exhibits is that they must be confusing and at least a little trippy, and this latest crop does not disappoint.
Karen Kilimnik
Don't make the mistake of thinking this exhibit by the Philadelphia-born Kilimnik is typical PMA fare. Kilimnik is known for intermingling a historical sensibility with elements of consumer culture, resulting in work that brings together timeless icons of youth with timely images of the present. Translation? Her work may seem like it belongs in a more traditional museum, until you realize that she's all about toying with the mise-en-scŠne: the more her installations seem to evoke the high culture of centuries past, the more they contrast with their modern gallery surroundings. By doing this, the artist manages to: a) somehow be subversive by relying on tradition and b) confuse the bejesus out of us. Working across media, Kilimnik presents paintings, photographs and films that will transport you to a world where storybook children, ballerinas and movie stars walk among us.
Crimes of Omission
Here's an equation for you: if a crime of omission is a crime that results from the absence of action, then this exhibit is an exercise in addition by subtraction. A class of eight Penn undergraduates worked together to curate this socially-conscious installation, which focuses above all on that which is conspicuously missing. For example, in a series of photographs that depict a 20th century lynching, the victim has been erased from each picture. Similarly, other works recreate the settings of transgressions, but not the transgressions themselves, putting the onus on the viewer to fill in the blanks. Each piece compels us to ask what's missing, and why. Included in the exhibit is the work of nine different artists from around the world.
Ramp Project:
Phoebe Washburn
Are you of the opinion that a gallery is no place for a swamp? Try telling that to artist Phoebe Washburn, who has transformed the ICA's ramp into a mixed-media terrarium, complete with not only a swamp, but grass, dirt and even lily pads. Washburn's water world displays a staggering inventiveness, where lights, fish tanks and wood planks mesh with found objects to create the scenery of some kind of alternate recycled universe born of aesthetic sustainability. The artist collects her materials painstakingly, culling bits from alleys, loading docks and maybe even her own backyard. Her project is meant to draw attention to the often-hidden value of such disposable and re-useable materials. Much like a real habitat, Washburn's constructions grow organically, evolving both naturally and by design.
